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Mister Esper
Also known as Mr. ESPer, this villain first gained notoriety as one of the Batman's early foes, and then of the Teen Titans. His helmet allowed him to gain access to Lilith Clay's mental powers, allowing him to create realistic illusions, which he used to terrorize the Titans and Batman. __TOC__ Background Information In the parallel universe of Earth-One, Mr. Esper was a former con-artist who worked at the Black Cat nightclub as a magician. Esper tried to start a criminal career in Gotham City and for this purpose, he created a device that could induce people to act strangely by following his commands. He used it to throw off Batman and Robin from the trail of his crimes, but he left evidence behind that helped the crime fighters capture him and his accomplices.As revealed in Detective Comics, #352 (June 1966). Esper was later contacted by the West Coast Crime Syndicate, who asked him to mentally lure Batman into deadly traps, created by the Syndicate in order to take over Gotham. Esper accepted the Syndicate's task, but he couldn't allow them to kill Batman. For this reason, he forced Penguin to organize and gather various criminals from Gotham and create the Gangland Guardians. Esper used his mental abilities to give Penguin the information needed without revealing his identity and once the threat of the Crime Syndicate was removed, Esper used his ability again, to dissolve the Gangland Guardians.As revealed in Batman, #201 (May 1968). Esper then became part of a criminal group that planned to steal the Gotham's National Bank. Using special machines, Esper managed to induce subliminal messages into the minds of Batman, Robin and Commissioner Gordon, allowing the crooks to perform their activities without the risk of being captured. However, Batman deduced Esper's scheme and used earplugs to avoid being affected by the subliminal messages and the Dynamic Duo managed to capture Esper once again.As revealed in Batman, #209 (February 1969). Esper's shows up again about years later, using a modified helmet to tap into mentalist Lilith Clay's telepathy. This was done to cause disasters in California and in Long Island. It was the Teen Titans who stepped up to thwart this plan of destruction.As revealed in Teen Titans, #50 - #52 (October - December, 1977). Powers and Abilities Powers * Telepathy: Esper's telepathic powers are limited to create urgent needs and provide information on others' minds. Abilities * Deception * Science Equipment * Super-Sonic Amplifier which projects his telepathy or 'thought whispers'. Appearances SuperFriends Comic Book: *''Super Friends #7'' and ''Super Friends #8'' references the following cross-universe story: :* Robin is absent and is said to be busy overcoming Captain Calamity with the Teen Titans: ::* [[Teen Titans, Vol. 1 50| Teen Titans, Vol. 1 #50]] (October, 1977) ::* [[Teen Titans, Vol. 1 51| Teen Titans, Vol. 1 #51]] (December, 1977) ::* [[Teen Titans Vol. 1 52| Teen Titans, Vol. 1 #52]] (December, 1977) Notes * Mister Esper first appears in Detective Comics, #352 (June, 1966). * He was created by John Broome and Sheldon Moldoff. External Links * Mister Esper/Captain Calamity article at Titanstower.com * Mister Esper/Captain Calamity bio at the Unofficial Guide to the DC Universe References Category:SuperFriends Comic book Category:Super Friends comic book characters